People Spotlight — March 2022

MMS Holdings, a data-focused contract research organization (CRO), announced the addition of Robert Allen, MD, to its team as principal medical director of global drug safety and pharmacovigilance. Bringing more than 20 years of pharma industry experience, he will act as senior technical reviewer for complex projects and provide sponsors with medical advice and regulatory support. Within the CRO’s medical affairs group, he will provide guidance on safety surveillance, signal detection, risk evaluation, risk mitigation strategies, medical monitoring, and more while supporting pharmacovigilance colleagues across MMS global operations.

RQM+, a provider of regulatory, clinical and quality solutions to the MedTech industry, has appointed Margaret Keegan as CEO. Keegan succeeds co-founder Maria Fagan, who is retiring and will join the board of directors as vice chair. Keegan brings three decades of experience with executive roles at the various life sciences service providers, including PPD, IQVIA and most recently, PRA Health Sciences, where she was COO.

Margaret Keegan. Credit: RQM+

Beghou Consulting, a life sciences consulting firm, has added three seasoned life sciences industry consultants to lead its advanced analytics and data science team in Pune, India. Amish Dhanani, Abhigya Jain, and Nilanshu Sinha are associate principals who have been instrumental in setting up Beghou’s office in Pune. Dhanani leads teams and projects focused on marketing analytics, omnichannel marketing, advanced analytics and data sciences, and primary market research for Beghou; Jain counsels life sciences companies of all sizes on a variety of commercialization issues, including sales force effectiveness, market access and go-to-market strategies; and Sinha leverages experience in forecasting, real-world data analytics, data warehousing, and value and access to guide life sciences industry clients.

Merck revealed that Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, chief patient officer and executive vice president, population health and sustainability, will be retiring from the company in May 2022. The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) announced that Dr. Gerberding will become CEO of the FNIH on May 16. Also, Dr. Roy D. Baynes, head of global clinical development and chief medical officer, Merck Research Laboratories, will be retiring in July. He will be succeeded by Dr. Eliav Barr, effective April 1, 2022. In the meantime, Dr. Baynes will continue to report to Dr. Dean Y. Li, president, Merck Research Laboratories, until his retirement.

Hutchmed, a commercial-stage biopharma company, unveiled that after almost 22 years with the firm, including 15 years as executive director and CEO, Christian Hogg will be retiring. Dr. Weiguo Su, who has been with the company for about 17 years, including about 10 years as chief scientific officer and almost five years as executive director, has been selected and appointed to his additional role as the CEO, as part of the company’s ongoing succession planning. Since joining the firm in 2005, Dr. Su has been responsible for the establishment of all aspects of the oncology/immunology innovation platform.

Patrick McGrath. Credit: Peli BioThermal

Peli BioThermal, a temperature-controlled packaging company, announced Patrick McGrath as its new director of sales, Americas. McGrath will lead the Americas sales team, as well as develop and execute sales strategies that introduce Peli BioThermal as a resource to an increasing number of pharma companies in the region.

Catalent, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), has appointed Frederic Cedrone, PhD, as vice president, corporate innovation. Dr. Cedrone will collaborate closely with Catalent’s scientific teams and external partners to leverage technologies in the development of emerging therapeutic modalities. He brings with him more than 25 years of experience in biologic drug development, including cell and gene therapies.

Mammoth Biosciences, a biotech firm that develops and discovers novel CRISPR systems, announced the appointment of Elaine Sun as COO and CFO. Sun joins Mammoth from Halozyme Therapeutics Inc., a public biotech company focused on the subcutaneous delivery of biologics and small molecule therapeutics, where she served as senior vice president and CFO, leading the company’s finance, accounting, information technology, site operations, and the Hylenex commercial business.

CalAmp, a connected intelligence company, has promoted Brett Jackson to senior vice president of transportation and logistics. Jackson will lead CalAmp’s transportation and logistics sales team, revenue generation and go-to-market strategy. He will focus on bringing fleet operators software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions that help reduce costs, increase revenue, maximize productivity, and keep their fleets safe.